The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-10-20


and beauty, and success Christ dealt with
him; "Thou shalt love tho Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.
This is the first commandms and the sec
ond is like to this; namely, thou shalt love
other commandment greater than this.
And the scribe said to him; well,
master, thou hast said the truth,
for there is ono God, and to love
him with all the heart, and all
the understanding and all the soul, and all
the strength Is more than whole burnt offer
lngs and sacrifices And when Jesus saw
that no answered discreetly, he said unto
him; "Thou art not far from the kingdom
of God" So skeptic was saved in one in.
terview. But few Christian people treat the
skeptic in that way. Instead of taking hold
of him with the gentle hand of love, we are
apt to take him with the iron pincers of &c
| clesiasticism.
You would not be so rough on that man il
| you knew by what process he had lost his
/ faith in Christianity, have known men
skeptical from the fact that they grew up in
houses where religion was overdone. Sun
day was the most awful day of the week.
They had religion driven into them with a
trip hammer They were surfeited with
prayer meetings. They were stuffed and
choked with catechisms. They were often
ever knew because they liked to ride down
hill better than to read Bunyan's "Pilgrim's
| Progress" Whenever father and mother
talked of religion they drew down the corners
| of their mouth and rolled up their ewes. II
any one thing will send boy or girl to de-
struction sooner than another that is it. If l
had had such a father and mother l fear I
should have been an inhde
Others were tripped up Of skepticism from
being grievousy wronged by some man who
professed to be Christian. They had
partner in business who turned out to be
first-class scoundrel, though professed
Christian. Twenty years ago they had lost
all faith by what happened in an oil company
which was formed amid the petroleum ex-
element. The company owned no land, or
II they did, there was sign of oil produced.
But the President Of the company was
Presbyterian elder, and the Treasurer was an
Episcopal vestryman, and one director was
Methodist class leader and the other direc-
tors prominent members of Baptist and Con-
gregational churches Circulars were gotten
out telling what fabulous prospects opened be-
fore this company. Innocent men and
women who had little money to
invest, and that little their all, said: II don't
know anything about this company, but so
many good men are at the head of it that it
must be excellent, and taking stock in it
almost as good as joining the church" So
they bought the stock, and perhaps received
one dividend SO as to keep them still, but
after while they found that the company
had reorganized and had different presi
dent, and different treasurer, and different
directors 1t was said by way of explana-
ton, that other engagements or i'll health
had caused the former officers of the company,
with many regrets to resign. And all that
the subscribers of that stock had to
show for their investment was beauti-
fully ornamented certificate. Sometimes
that man looking over his old papers
comes across that certificate, and it is
so suggestive that he VOWS he wants none Of
the religion that the presidents and trustees
and directors of that oil company protested
OF course their rejection of religion on such
grounds was nphloSophical and unwiSe. l
am told that one-third of the United States
army deserts every year, and there are IL, 600
court martial trials every year Is that any
thing against the United States Government
that swore them in! And if soldiers of Jesus
Christ desert, is that anything against the
Christianity which they swore to support and
defend! How do you judge of the currency
of country! By counterfeit bill! Oh,
you must have patience with those who have
been swindled by religious pretenders Live
in the presence of others frank honest,
earnest Christian life, that they may be at
tracted to the same Saviour upon whom your
hopes depend.
Remember skepticism alwayshas some rea-
son, good or bad, for existing. Goethe's ire
ligion started when the news came to Ger
many of the earthquake at Lisbon, Nov.
l, 1715. That 60,000 people should have per-
ished in that earthquake and in the after
rising of the Tagus river so stirred bis SYM
pathies that he threw up his belief in the
goodness of God.
Others have gone into skepticism from
natural persistence in asking the reason why.
They have been fearfully stabbed OF the in
terrogation point. There are so many things
they cannot get explained They cannot
understand the Trinity, or how God
can be sovereign, and yet man a
free agent. Neither can l. They say:
81 don't understand why a good God
should have let sin come into the world"
Neither do T. Won say: "Whv was that
child started in life with such disadvan-
tages, while others have all physical and
mental equipments" cannot tell They go
out of church on Easter morning and say ::
"That doctrine of the resurrection COMPOUNDED
me-" So it is to me mystery beyond I'M
ravelment. understand all the processes by
which men get into the dark. l know them
all. l have Travelled with burning feet their
blistered way. The first word that children
learn to utter generally papa or mamma.
think the first word | ever uttered was
why" | know what it is to have hum
dred midnights pour their darkness into
one hour. Such men are not to be
scoffed at, but helped. Turn your back upon
drowning man when you have the rope
with which to pull him ashore, and let that
woman in the third story of house perish in
the flames when you have a ladder with
which to help her out and help her down,
rather than turn your back scoffingly on a
skeptlc whose soul is in more peril than the
bodies OF those other endangered ones posi-.
bly, can be. Oh, skepticism is a dark land.
There are men in this house who would give
thousand worlds, if they possessed them,
to get back to the placid faith of their fathers
and mothers, and it is our place to help them,
and we may help them, never through their
heads, but always through their hearts.
These skeptics when brought to Jesus, will be
nightly affected-far more so than those
who never examined the evidences of Chris
tianity. Thomas Chalmers was once skep-
tic. Robert Hall a skeDtic. Robert Newton a
skeptic, Christmas Evans skeptic But
when once with strong hand they took hold
of the chariot of the Gospel, they rolled it on
men and women today I throw out
no scott. l implead them by the men,
DRY of the good old days when at their
mothers knee they said: "Now l lay me
down to Sleep" and by those days and nights
OF scarlet fever in which she watched YOU,
giving you the medicine at just the right
time and turning your pillow when it was
hot, and with hands that many years ago
turned to dust soothed away your pain and
with voice that you will never hear again,
unless you join her in the better country,
told you to never mind for you void feel
better by and by, and by that dying couch
where she looked SO pale and talked so
slowly, catching her breath between the
words, and you felt an awful loneliness
coming over your soul: by all that, beg
you to come back and take the same reig-
ion. 1t was good enough for her 1t is good
enough for you Nay, have better plea
than that plead by all the wounds, and
tears, and blood. and groans. and agonies
and death throes of the Son of God. who APP
proaches you this moment with torn brow,
and lacerated hand, and whipped back, and
saying: Come unto me, all We who are weary
and heavy laden, and will give you rest"
Again there is field of usefulness but
little touched occupied by those who are
astray in their habits. All northern ma
tions, like those of North America and Eng
land and Scotland, that is in the colder
climates are devastated by alcohol
ism. They take the fire to keep up
the warmth. In southern countries, like
Arabia and Spain, the blood is so they are
not tempted to fiery liquids. The great Ro-
man armies never drank anything stronger
than water tinged with vinegar but under
northern climate the tarnptaior, 70 boat